If you practice cutting to specific cards, over time a type of "muscle memory" starts to kick in. You can become adept at this and be able to cut directly to any card, or within one or two. Also, over time, you will develop strategies to deal with a close miss, for example, a DL or a color change or a top change, etc.

What if, for example, a spec names any card, taps the deck, and there it is on top - or reversed in the middle? Very strong stuff.

I've not read through all the pages of comments in this thread, just skimmed over the top of a few, so don't hate me if I'm just repeating things.

I own this book as I love all things memory, not just from a magical point of view, but for life. I wish some one had taught me what I now know when I was at school, as do probably a lot of you who have studied mnemonics. About his method of remembering the stack though, I don't think it's the best method to use, it may be because I already had a different method in use before I'd brought the book, but still, comparing the two. However, I did really like some of the effects taught and as they're based around the order and not the method, I didn't have to worry. I do like the section in there about slights too, it's well described and the photo's are great. All around, I do feel this is a great book for anyone looking for effects that involve a memorize deck, although, I would recomend using a different method of doing the memorizing.

On another note, I do agree with Shufton about practicing cutting spercific numbers of cards off the deck, you really can practice it to the point that you're spot on almost all the time, and the times you're not, it's only by one card. This skill alone, combined with a memorized deck can be moulded into a pretty strong effect, and the great thing is, it's not involving anything other than skill, so even under the worlds most eagle eyed spectator, you can't go wrong.

The great thing about this book is that it also gives a bit of an insight into Tamariz' perspective on magic as a whol and as such, inadvertently shows how a few other tricks (not even explained in the book) could be done. Incidentally, this is how I figured out Triple Coincidence (aside from watching 4,056 times). And of course, something I think is so clear from the book is the passion from Juan and his humour, they are excellent additions to the reading of what could be a fairly tedious encyclopedic list.

The memorization techniques themselves ARE a bit dodgy. I will say that there are better methods of learning the cards QUICKER, of course, there are some people around the world who can memorize a deck in 47 seconds with fairly low effort, but they are also world-record breakers. What I WILL say for the memory techniques included is that it is probably one of the more lasting variations. Wether that's exclusively for cards, or whether that bleeds into other areas, this won't leave you. I, for example, only came back to the stack a few weeks ago after having learned it 2 years back (I think). At first I couldn't remember the order at all, so I consulted the book, put them in order, went through the deck one card at a time and INSTANTLY remembered the order of the stack INCLUDING naming any number and matching it to the corresponding card. This is not a testament to my own memory, which is average at best, but to the sticking power of the method.

The book, on the whole is incredible and to anyone who is considering it, go for it! I am not a rich man, I can assure you, but I payed £50 for it and it was worth every penny.

I agree with deebee I ended up using a completely different method for memorising the stack partly because I was too cheap to buy a dictaphone. The versatility of the deck is shown in the amount of tricks available in both stay stacked and mnemonic order.

There are some iPhone apps that help you to learn the stack, but really it just takes a bit of time and effort. You can easily get stuck at that "I nearly know it" stage, which means performance would be a bit risky and inadvisable. And then one day it all clicks and you can instantly go from card to number and number to card without a moment's thought abd the sky's the limit.

I can't say enough about this book. I brought it however after learning a different memory system for the actual memorization of the cards which I'm glad of as it's superior to the method taught in the book. This however is only a minor blip in the radar as the rest of the book sets the bar for tricks involving a memorized or stacked deck.